2024 Disney World After Hours Dates and Details – Typhoon Lagoon H2O Glow Added!
Disney World has announced that After Hours events will be coming back, beginning in January 2024. We’ve got dates and details for After Hours at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios below, including the limited return of the Disney Enchantment Fireworks show. And look at you go, TRON / Lightcycle Run, with a standby queue.
Update March 14: After Hours dates for H2O Glow Nights at Typhoon Lagoon have been released; tickets go on sale for guests of select Disney World Hotels on March 19, 2024 and to the general public on March 22, 2024. Find details below!
What Are Disney After Hours Events?
These are a separate “hard-ticket” event that are held after regular park hours. After Hours attendees can enter the park up to 1 hour (or more) before closing without needing regular admission, and the event itself is 3 hours. These events offer
- A selection of snacks and treats included free
- Shorter lines for attractions due to limited attendance
They are similar to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, but with some important differences:
- After Hours events don’t always offer themed entertainment extras like parades and fireworks. Some special After Hours offerings with names like “Villains After Hours” may offer entertainment extras, and this year the Magic Kingdom After Hours events will include a showing of Disney Enchantment.
- Since they begin after regular hours, crowd patterns during the day aren’t affected. And if you’re attending After Hours, you can arrive toward the end of regular hours to see the park’s evening fireworks show before the event starts.
Wondering about the value of an After Hours ticket compared to a regular day ticket? Here’s what you need to know: Best Disney World Ticket Choice: After Hours or More Days?
When, Where, and How Much?
Prices and dates are below for each park. For new dates noted below, guests with a reservation at an eligible Disney World Hotel can purchase tickets beginning on January 24 by calling (407) 934-7639; early purchasing cannot be done online. Tickets can be purchased online by all guests starting on January 31, 2024. If you’ve booked a trip through a travel agent, they may also be able to get tickets for you.
Magic Kingdom 2024 After Hours Dates and Details
Double fireworks! New for 2024, Disney Enchantment will be shown at After Hours events in the Magic Kingdom. Since After Hours takes place … after hours … the regular Happily Ever After fireworks are also shown before closing. That means After Hours guests will have the opportunity to see both shows. For those wishing to ride TRON / Lightcycle Run, it will be using a standby queue during the After Hours event.
Disney After Hours events will begin at the Magic Kingdom on January 1 and are confirmed through June 27, 2024. Dates up to April 8 are currently available for purchase. For dates after April 8 sales begin to guests of select Disney World Hotels on January 24, 2024, and to the general public on January 31, 2024.
Tickets range from $155-$175, with discounts available for Disney Vacation Club members and Annual Passholders. The event runs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., with event guests allowed to enter the park at 7 p.m. using their event ticket. See the event page for complete details.
We’ve refreshed our Magic Kingdom After Hours strategy guide based on this year’s event. And if you were wondering how TouringPlans users felt about Enchantment vs. HEA, here’s the skinny. Enchantment: 4.5 stars for pre-school and grade school; 4.0 stars from all other groups. Happily Ever After: 4.5 from every age group except Young Adults, who rate it 5.0 stars.
Hollywood Studios 2024 After Hours Dates and Details
Disney After Hours events will be returning to Hollywood Studios beginning on January 10 and confirmed through August 29, 2024. Dates up to April 10 are currently available for purchase. For dates after April 10 sales begin to guests of select Disney World Hotels on January 24, 2024, and to the general public on January 31, 2024.
Tickets range from $145-$175, with discounts available for Disney Vacation Club members and Annual Passholders. The event runs from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., with event guests allowed to enter the park at 7 p.m. using their event ticket. See the event page for complete details.
One thing that sets Hollywood Studios After Hours apart from the Magic Kingdom event is the rare characters that you can see, including Pinocchio, Duffy, White Rabbit, and others. Trying to figure out how much you can do? See our Hollywood Studios After Hours Strategy and Info article.
EPCOT 2024 After Hours Dates and Details
Finally, Disney After Hours events will be returning to EPCOT beginning on February 2 and confirmed through July 18, 2024. Dates up to April 4 are currently available for purchase. For dates after April 4 sales begin to guests of select Disney World Hotels on January 24, 2024, and to the general public on January 31, 2024.
Tickets range from $149-$159, with discounts available for Disney Vacation Club members and Annual Passholders. The event runs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., with event guests allowed to enter the park at 7 p.m. using their event ticket. Disney hasn’t announced that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will be using a standby queue during the event, but we expect it will based on last year’s events. See the event page for complete details.
Typhoon Lagoon 2024 H2O Glow After Hours
The H2O Glow After Hours event returns to Typhoon Lagoon on May 25, 2024, continuing through August 31, 2024. Tickets go on sale for guests of select Disney World Hotels on March 19, 2024 and to the general public on March 22, 2024.
Tickets range from $75-$85, with discounts available for Disney Vacation Club members and Annual Passholders. The event runs from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., with event guests allowed to enter the water park at 6 p.m. using their event ticket. For more details, see Disney’s event page.
Like the theme park After Hours events, H2O Glow features shorter waits, complimentary ice cream novelties, popcorn and soda, and a chance to see some of your favorite characters. Plus you can splash around in the cool of the evening and dance the night away with a DJ dance party!
Are you excited for After Hours in 2024? Have you been to one in the past? Let us know in the comments!
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Are the After Hours events something you would recommend for first time visitors? Thanks.
Hi Gregory, unfortunately there is not a 1-size-fits-all answer. You might find some more discussion to help you decide here: https://touringplans.com/blog/disney-after-hours-or-extra-ticket-day/. But it is really going to depend on why you’re coming to Disney World, what you like to do the most, when you’re coming, who you are coming with, how long you are staying, etc.
Here is what I can say, and this is solely my own personal opinion. I can’t think of a single upcharge offering that’s such an amazing experience that a first-time visitor should prioritize spending the money on it. Disney World is such a huge place, if you’re there for the first time you won’t get close to running out of things to do unless it turns out not to be your cup of tea. And if that’s the case, After Hours won’t address that. But, if you were my sibling and were going to pick out a single thing as an upcharge event, I would tell them to do something like this https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/animal-kingdom/night-safari/ over an After Hours event; it’s something truly unique that doesn’t overlap with what you can do in the parks themselves during regular hours.
Hi we will be visiting WDW 1-11 November. Could the after dark hours be extended in any parks for November? Thanks.
Hi Tasmin – you can never really say for sure what Disney is going to do, but it’s not very likely. At that point both the Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will have holiday season events running (assuming that Jollywood Studios comes back), and that doesn’t really leave space for them in the schedule.
Have a great trip!
Is it 6:00 or 7:00? I keep seeing 7 – 6 would be even better! 🙂
Hi Melanie – that depends on which event you’re going to. Generally the ones at the theme parks are 7 pm and for the H2O Glow After Hours it’s 6 pm. The water park After Hours also starts much earlier than the theme park ones.
Do you have an Epcot After Hours touring plan yet? Thanks!
Hi Melanie, we don’t but we are planning to have one up shortly after the next event on March 28. If you’re attending any time after that, we should have one by then. Thanks for asking!
Great information and so thorough! Do you think Epcot will add any additional dates in August or is this list pretty definitive? I went last year in August and planned on returning in August this year.
Thank you.
Hi Candy, that’s hard to say. Last year they released another set of dates in mid-February, so I’d say there’s definitely hope. Also we haven’t seen dates for Typhoon Lagoon yet so there probably will be a future announcement for those. But, even if another set drops, there’s no guarantee whether or not it will include more dates for EPCOT. Sorry to be so wishy-washy!
Excellent information …thank you! We are booked on property starting April 25th, 2024 but it looks like After Hours at Hollywood Studios has a seven week gap from April 10th to May 22nd. Do you know if this is correct and if so why the long break?
Hi Theresa, yes the schedule is correct – or at least, it is based on what Disney has announced; the screenshot is directly off the event page. As to why the long gap? No idea. It could be something about the refurb schedule that makes AH not such a great choice at Hollywood Studios during that time, or staffing, or it could just be related to predicted demand.
Good morning
When it says ‘Guests with a reservation at an eligible Disney World Hotel’ how do I find out which of the hotels are eligible for booking the tickets starting Jan 24th? Thanks
Hi Rebecca, this is a great question and I couldn’t even find the answer on the event page, which is probably why I didn’t spell them out in the article. Based on other release announcements from other years, the early booking is available to those staying at Disney World Resort Hotels, plus the Swan, Dolphin, Swan Reserve, and Shades of Green. So if the hotel says “Disney’s” in its name, like “Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort” or “Copper Creek Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Resort”, then it will be eligible. Hotels that merely say “At Disney World” in their name, or don’t include the world “Disney” at all, will not be eligible, with the exception of the Swolphin and Shades of Green.
If you’re not eligible for purchase during the early booking I wouldn’t worry about it though. None of them have sold out so far this year.
Are the after hours fireworks’ music played outside of the park, for example, the Poly beach?
Hi Josh, I don’t have a definitive answer on that, but fireworks music at other Magic Kingdom hard-ticket events (such as MNSSHP and MVMCP) is piped out to the surrounding resorts so I think the answer is most likely yes.